named the Capitol Hotel. William Marsh Rice, the founder of Rice University, purchased the building in 1883, added a five-story annex, and renamed it the Rice Hotel. Rice University then sold the building in 1911 to Jesse Jones, who demolished it and built a 17-story structure on the site. The new Rice Hotel building opened on May 17, 1913. This historic hotel now serves as an apartment building known as The Rice Lofts, designed by Page Southerland Page. The Texas State Hotel was built in 1926 from a design by architect Joseph Finger, who also created the plans for Houston's City Hall. The hotel has Spanish Renaissance detailing and ornate metal canopies, which remain largely intact even though the building had, until recently, been vacant since the mid-1980s. The hotel is a designated City of Houston landmark, and with refurbished ornate terra cotta detailing on the façade, it has been returned to active use. The Gulf Building, now called the JPMorgan Chase building, is an Art Deco skyscraper. Completed in 1929, it remained the tallest building in Houston until 1963, when the Exxon Building surpassed it in height. Designed by architects Alfred C. Finn (designer of the San Jacinto Monument), Kenneth Franzheim, and J.E.R. Carpenter, the building is seen as a realization of Eliel Saarinen's acclaimed second-place entry to the Chicago Tribune Tower competition. Restoration of the building was started in 1989, in what is still considered one of the largest privately funded preservation projects in American history. The Niels and Mellie Esperson buildings are examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in downtown Houston. Designed by John Eberson, the two buildings were built in 1927 and 1941, respectively. They are detailed with massive columns, great urns, terraces, and a grand tempietto at the top, similar to one built in the courtyard of San Pietro in Rome in 1502. Mellie Esperson had the first building constructed for her husband, Niels, a real estate and oil tycoon. His name is carved on the side of the building in large letters at street level. The name "Mellie Esperson" is carved on the accompanying structure, known as the Mellie Esperson building, although it is really just a 19-story annex to the original building. Designed by Fort Worth architect Wyatt C. Hedrick, the Shamrock Hotel was an 18-story building constructed between 1946 and 1949 with a green tile pitched roof and 1,100 rooms. The hotel was